November 2010

November 18, 2010

A mother and two little girls about 7 and 10 sitting behind us on our plane home from Australia on Wednesday. As the Qantas 747 lifted off the Melbourne runway the mother told her girls to tell Australia good-bye. They called out "Good bye Australia! Good-bye Australia! We love you!" I wanted to join in with them. We had a marvelous trip and although it is wonderful to be home, I do love Australia.

We flew home on Wednesday. In my last blog post Sunday night we were in Apollo Bay, Victoria on Australia's Great Ocean Road.

Almost every small town in Australia has a bakery, a butchery, and a fruit and veggies shop. Most days on our trip we stopped at a bakery and picked up bread and a treat for lunch. The bakery in Apollo Bay had signs in its windows saying it had won awards for being one of the best bakeries in Australia.

They had what looked like some wonderful big cinnamon rolls. I asked the shop lady what they were and she said "they are cheese and Vegemite rolls".That would have been a shock to my mouth if I thought I was biting into a cinnamon roll and instead got cheese and Vegemite! We bought one and had it for breakfast. It was really good.

Monday we continued our drive along the Great Ocean Road. We climbed down Gibson Steps to the beach. You can just see me in this picture.

We stopped at several view points along the road. We saw the Twelve Apostles rock formations.

The London Bridge Rock formation used to be like a two arch bridge. The first arch collapsed in 1990. At the time there were some people out on what became the island. They had to be rescued by helicopter.

After our drive along the Great Ocean Road we headed inland and spent the night in the town of Halls Gap in Grampian National Park. We stayed in a cabin on Monday night. The lawn in front of reception was covered with kangaroos.

There were also several cockatoos on the table outside our door.

Tuesday morning we hiked in Grampian National Park. This formation is called the Balconies.

Grampian National Park also had a lot of pretty wild flowers

Tuesday afternoon we headed back to Melbourne found a motel near the airport and spent the night there before flying home on Wednesday.

All of my pictures from our trip are on Flickr here. I'll be adding titles and descriptions to the picture over the next week or so. I'm also planning a summary post with info about the cost of our trip, a map, and what I consider some of the highlights and low-lights of the trip. If there are other things you would like to know about our Austalian road trip please leave me a comment or drop me an email.

November 14, 2010

Everyone we have talked to in Australia has had a snake story. Our Lonely Planet Australia Guide Book says of Australia that snakes are “abundant”. Last Wednesday night when we were walking round the Vermazen property near Eden, New South Wales I was commenting on the fact that we hadn’t seen any snakes during the three weeks we had been in Australia.

That changed on Thursday. Duke and I drove from Eden, New South Wales to Lakes Entrance, Victoria. Along the way we stopped to hike in the coastal forest on The Cape Conran Nature Trail. I was walking down the trail in front of Duke enjoying the scenery when something moved. I almost stepped on a very large brown almost black snake. I yelped, jumped, said several loud words and did a very fast U-turn. Apparently the snake was scared too because he quickly headed off the trail into the underbrush.

I forgot to mention in my last post that as we were pulling into our B&B in Eden we had another flat tire! This time we had a nail in our left rear tire. We stayed in Eden two nights and got the tire fixed the next morning. We are getting quite good at calling roadside assistance and then getting the spare fixed.

As we have been driving through Victoria we have seen lots of signs reminding people about the dangers of falling asleep while driving. I liked this sign because I have always beena big proponent of the power nap.

In Lakes Entrance we stayed in a B&B. We went into the town and walked up and down the Esplanade deciding where to eat. We decided on the local sports club.

Meals are very expensive here in Australia. We have decided that although the breakfasts in B&Bs have been wonderful. We don’t need that much food or the additional $60 or so they add to the price of a nights lodging.

From Lakes Entrance we drove along the south coast of Victoria and then north to Drouin where some more of the Australian Vermazens live. The Australian Vermazens immigrated to Australia in 1955. We stayed with Gerard and his wife and went out to dinner with them and Gerrard’s sister Elizabeth and her husband.

Saturday morning we got to visit with the the immigrant Vermazen, Hendrik who is 86. He is a fascinating man with a magnificent memory. He well remembered Duke’s Dad who visited them in the 1980s.

From Drouin we drove into Melbourne. We found a hotel and went for a walk in the rain. We visited the Immigration Museum where we saw Hendrick Vermazen’s name on the wall of remembrance.

Then we walked up to the Victoria parliament buildings and back through China Town. We had a wonderful Chinese dinner in China town.

It is easy to see why people like Melbourne. It is full of interesting little alleys and lots of intriguing restaurants and shopping. On the way back to our hotel we stopped to have a beer and listen to a jazz group playing outside one of the restaurants. By the time we got back to the hotel we were quite damp in spite of our rain coats.

This morning (Sunday) we went for a walk along the Yarra river in Melbourne.

I had a croisssant and a small bottle of water from a shop and they cost me $8. Then we checked out of our hotel and drove out of Melbourne to explore the Great Ocean Road south west of Melbourne.

Most of the coast roads we have driven along on our trip have only been within sight of the ocean if we are in a town. The Great Ocean Road is right along the coast and it is stunning. We stopped for the night in a small town called Apollo Bay. I think the rain is keeping some of the tourists away. We were able to enjoy the town which seems very quiet. We walked along the main street to pick a restaurant for dinner. We ended up eating at La Bimba. We had a whole Dory fish with wonderful seasoning stuffed with couscous. Oh my! It was delicious. It was one of our top 5 meals of the trip.

November 10, 2010

Duke and I are on a month long vacation in Australia. We are finishing up week three. Right now (Thursday morning) we are in Eden New South Wales. Eden is just north of the new South Wales, Victoria Border.

We left Sydney Last Saturday and spent the night in Woolongong. Sunday we drove from Woolongong to Huskisson on Jarvis Bay. Monday morning was beautiful and sunny. We went for a walk along the coast before leaving Huskisson.

The raod does not always exactly follow the coast so as we drove south on Monday we made some detours over to headlands and beaches. We eventually stopped in Narooma and spent the night at the Whale Motor Inn. Narooma has a wonderful boardwalk along the Wagonga River just before it empties into the Pacific. We walked along the boardwalk down to the ocean and saw thousands of fish, some really cool jelly fish and a couple of stingrays.

It was starting to rain again and we even saw a rainbow. After our walk we ate dinner at the Whale Inn overlooking the bay.

Tuesday morning as we headed south again we stopped at a little village called Central Tilba. It had lots of tourist shops and an old Cheese factory. We bought some cheese and browsed a bit.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Bermagui. Here I am looking for whales with the binoculars.

In the afternoon we stopped to hike at Mimosa Rocks National Park. We hiked out to Wajurda Point. We have seen whales at almost every overlook we have stopped at. At this overlook we saw some whales crossing the mouth of the bay below us. For about twenty minutes they put on quite a show, breaching, diving and sticking their flippers up. It was awesome.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Eden. That's where we are now. We found this absolutely wonderful B&B, The Snugcove B&B. We have a room overlooking the harbor and each morning we have eaten a fantastic breakfast on the deck watching the boats and the birds on the bay.

Tuesday night we walked down to the wharf, bought fish and chips for dinner and ate them sitting on a bench watching the sunset.

Wednesday we explored around Eden walked out on the Navy Pier. We also visited an old light tower built by a Ben Boyd an 18th century entrepreneur and schemer. We visited the old whaling station and the whaling museum.

Tuesday night was special because we went out to have dinner with a distant cousin of Duke's and his wife and son. They showed us all around their property and gave us a fantastic dinner. We had a wonderful time.

Eden is my absolute favorite coastal town we have visited. Most of the shoreline of the harbor is park land. The town is a real fishing town and not too touristy, and the Snug Cove B&B is my favorite place we have stayed on this trip and now we have friends as well as relatives here. I'd like to come back.

November 07, 2010

Sunday morning we began exploring the cost of New South Wales south of Sydney.We stopped at the blowhole on the point in Kiama.

From Kiama we continued to meander south along the coast. This coast is really gorgeous.

We eventually ended up in a motel in the little town of Huskisson on Jarvis Bay. The weather was cold and windy. We walked down to pick up a pizza and enjoyed it on our balcony overlooking the bay.

Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates have been in Australia this week so it has been really interesting to watch the coverage of their visits.

I have been whining a bit about how most places we stay charge a lot for internet. But Monday night we are at the Whale Motor Inn in Narooma and they have free fast internet!! Thank you Whale!! I have uploaded all my pictures so far to Flickr. They are available on Flickr here. I probably won't get them all labeled until I get home.

We spent Friday night in the Hunter Valley Wine Country. Saturday morning we drove into Sydney and across the Sydney Harbor bridge.

We parked on the street in Sydney and walked through the Botanical Garden and around the Sydney Opera House. Sydney really is a beautiful city.

It was raining off and on all day. When we were inside the Opera House it started really pouring. We were glad to be inside. Outside they were setting up for the Australian Record Industry Awards.

After our walk around downtown Sydney we got in the car and headed south again. The town of Wollongong is called The Gong, even on the street signs. I almost bought an "I Love the Gong" souvenir.

With the help of the Visitor center in Wollongong we were able to find a room for the night. Being near Sydney and a Saturday night the accommodation was our most expensive of the trip (although not the nicest).

We walked in the pouring rain to the waterfront and had one of the best meals we have had on this trip. At The Dunes Brasserie in Wollongong we ordered the seafood sampler for two and had a mouth watering feast of crab, fish, chips, oysters, smoked salmon, prawns, calamari and scallops. It was fantastic! As we walked back to our hotel the rain had stopped and we could see stars. it was a wonderful end to a great day.